Patent Application
20240322965
The present specification relates to a technique for transmitting a feedback frame based on a 320 MHz NDPA frame in a wireless LAN system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for configuring a bitmap included in an NDPA frame to request feedback for partial bands in units of 20 MHz.
A wireless local area network (WLAN) has been improved in various ways. For example, the IEEE 802.11ax standard proposed an improved communication environment using orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and downlink multi-user multiple input multiple output (DL MU MIMO) techniques.
The present specification proposes a technical feature that can be utilized in a new communication standard. For example, the new communication standard may be an extreme high throughput (EHT) standard which is currently being discussed. The EHT standard may use an increased bandwidth, an enhanced PHY layer protocol data unit (PPDU) structure, an enhanced sequence, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) scheme, or the like, which is newly proposed. The EHT standard may be called the IEEE 802.11be standard.
In a new WLAN standard, an increased number of spatial streams may be used. In this case, in order to properly use the increased number of spatial streams, a signaling technique in the WLAN system may need to be improved.
The present specification proposes a method and apparatus for requesting feedback of partial bands in units of 20 MHz in a 320 MHz NDPA frame in a wireless LAN system.
An example of the present specification proposes a method for requesting feedback of partial bands in units of 20 MHz in a 320 MHz NDPA frame.
The present embodiment may be performed in a network environment in which a next generation WLAN system (IEEE 802.11be or EHT WLAN system) is supported. The next generation wireless LAN system is a WLAN system that is enhanced from an 802.11ax system and may, therefore, satisfy backward compatibility with the 802.11ax system.
This embodiment is performed in a receiving STA, and the receiving STA may correspond to a beamformee or at least one STA (station). A transmitting STA may correspond to a beamformer or an access point (AP).
This embodiment proposes a method for configuring a STA Info field of a NDPA frame to request channel status feedback for partial bands in units of 20 MHz (or 242RU) in the 320 MHz band.
A receiving station (STA) receives a Null Data Packet Announcement (NDPA) frame from a transmitting STA through a 320 MHz band.
The receiving STA receives an NDP frame from the transmitting STA.
The receiving STA transmits a feedback frame based on the NDPA frame and the NDP frame to the transmitting STA.
The NDPA frame includes first and second STA information fields. The first STA information field includes a first Association Identifier (AID) subfield and information on a first partial band. The second STA information field includes a second AID subfield and information on a second partial band.
The first and second AID subfields are set to equally set to an AID value of the receiving STA. Multiple STA information fields included in the existing NDPA frame were fields including information on each STA, but this embodiment proposes a method of defining an NDPA frame including two STA information fields set to the same AID value for one STA.
The information on the first partial band includes a first bitmap composed of first to ninth bits. The information on the second partial band includes a second bitmap composed of 10th to 18th bits.
The first and 10th bits include information on channel units for requesting feedback information. For example, when the first and 10th bits are set to 0, the channel unit for requesting the feedback information may be 20 MHz (or 242 Resource Unit (RU)), and when the first and 10th bits are set to 1, the channel unit for requesting the feedback information may be 40 MHz (or 484RU). Since this embodiment proposes a method for requesting feedback information in units of 20 MHz (or 242RU), it is assumed that the first and tenth bits are set to 0. At this time, the 242RU is a resource unit composed of 242 tones.
When the first bit is set to 0, the second to ninth bits are bits that request feedback information for a 20 MHz channel with the lowest frequency to a 20 MHz channel with the highest frequency in a primary 160 MHz channel in the 320 MHz band.
When the 10th bit is set to 0, the 11th to 18th bits are bits that request feedback information for a 20 MHz channel with the lowest frequency to a 20 MHz channel with the highest frequency in a secondary 160 MHz channel in the 320 MHz band.
That is, this embodiment proposes a method for requesting, by the beamformer to the beamformee, feedback information on the primary 160 MHz channel (or a 160 MHz channel with a lower frequency in the 320 MHz band) in the first STA information field included in the NDPA frame and feedback information on the secondary 160 MHz channel (or a 160 MHz channel with a higher frequency in the 320 MHz band) in the second STA information field included in the NDPA frame.
According to the embodiment proposed in this specification, by efficiently supporting Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) beamforming within the 320 MHz PPDU, it has the effect of improving the throughput of the entire system.
In the present specification, “A or B” may mean “only A”, “only B” or “both A and B”. In other words, in the present specification, “A or B” may be interpreted as “A and/or B”. For example, in the present specification, “A, B, or C” may mean “only A”, “only B”, “only C”, or “any combination of A, B, C”.
A slash (/) or comma used in the present specification may mean “and/or”. For example, “A/B” may mean “A and/or B”. Accordingly, “A/B” may mean “only A”, “only B”, or “both A and B”. For example, “A, B, C” may mean “A, B, or C”.
In the present specification, “at least one of A and B” may mean “only A”, “only B”, or “both A and B”. In addition, in the present specification, the expression “at least one of A or B” or “at least one of A and/or B” may be interpreted as “at least one of A and B”.
In addition, in the present specification, “at least one of A, B, and C” may mean “only A”, “only B”, “only C”, or “any combination of A, B, and C”. In addition, “at least one of A, B, or C” or “at least one of A, B, and/or C” may mean “at least one of A, B, and C”.
In addition, a parenthesis used in the present specification may mean “for example”. Specifically, when indicated as “control information (EHT-signal)”, it may denote that “EHT-signal” is proposed as an example of the “control information”. In other words, the “control information” of the present specification is not limited to “EHT-signal”, and “EHT-signal” may be proposed as an example of the “control information”. In addition, when indicated as “control information (i.e., EHT-signal)”, it may also mean that “EHT-signal” is proposed as an example of the “control information”.
Technical features described individually in one figure in the present specification may be individually implemented, or may be simultaneously implemented.
The following example of the present specification may be applied to various wireless communication systems. For example, the following example of the present specification may be applied to a wireless local area network (WLAN) system. For example, the present specification may be applied to the IEEE 802.11a/g/n/ac standard or the IEEE 802.11ax standard. In addition, the present specification may also be applied to the newly proposed EHT standard or IEEE 802.11be standard. In addition, the example of the present specification may also be applied to a new WLAN standard enhanced from the EHT standard or the IEEE 802.11be standard. In addition, the example of the present specification may be applied to a mobile communication system. For example, it may be applied to a mobile communication system based on long term evolution (LTE) depending on a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) standard and based on evolution of the LTE. In addition, the example of the present specification may be applied to a communication system of a 5G NR standard based on the 3GPP standard.
Hereinafter, in order to describe a technical feature of the present specification, a technical feature applicable to the present specification will be described.
In the example of
For example, the STAs 110 and 120 may serve as an AP or a non-AP. That is, the STAs 110 and 120 of the present specification may serve as the AP and/or the non-AP.
The STAs 110 and 120 of the present specification may support various communication standards together in addition to the IEEE 802.11 standard. For example, a communication standard (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR standard) or the like based on the 3GPP standard may be supported. In addition, the STA of the present specification may be implemented as various devices such as a mobile phone, a vehicle, a personal computer, or the like. In addition, the STA of the present specification may support communication for various communication services such as voice calls, video calls, data communication, and self-driving (autonomous-driving), or the like.
The STAs 110 and 120 of the present specification may include a medium access control (MAC) conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard and a physical layer interface for a radio medium.
The STAs 110 and 120 will be described below with reference to a sub-figure (a) of
The first STA 110 may include a processor 111, a memory 112, and a transceiver 113. The illustrated process, memory, and transceiver may be implemented individually as separate chips, or at least two blocks/functions may be implemented through a single chip.
The transceiver 113 of the first STA performs a signal transmission/reception operation. Specifically, an IEEE 802.11 packet (e.g., IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be, etc.) may be transmitted/received.
For example, the first STA 110 may perform an operation intended by an AP. For example, the processor 111 of the AP may receive a signal through the transceiver 113, process a reception (RX) signal, generate a transmission (TX) signal, and provide control for signal transmission. The memory 112 of the AP may store a signal (e.g., RX signal) received through the transceiver 113, and may store a signal (e.g., TX signal) to be transmitted through the transceiver.
For example, the second STA 120 may perform an operation intended by a non-AP STA. For example, a transceiver 123 of a non-AP performs a signal transmission/reception operation. Specifically, an IEEE 802.11 packet (e.g., IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be packet, etc.) may be transmitted/received.
For example, a processor 121 of the non-AP STA may receive a signal through the transceiver 123, process an RX signal, generate a TX signal, and provide control for signal transmission. A memory 122 of the non-AP STA may store a signal (e.g., RX signal) received through the transceiver 123, and may store a signal (e.g., TX signal) to be transmitted through the transceiver.
For example, an operation of a device indicated as an AP in the specification described below may be performed in the first STA 110 or the second STA 120. For example, if the first STA 110 is the AP, the operation of the device indicated as the AP may be controlled by the processor 111 of the first STA 110, and a related signal may be transmitted or received through the transceiver 113 controlled by the processor 111 of the first STA 110. In addition, control information related to the operation of the AP or a TX/RX signal of the AP may be stored in the memory 112 of the first STA 110. In addition, if the second STA 120 is the AP, the operation of the device indicated as the AP may be controlled by the processor 121 of the second STA 120, and a related signal may be transmitted or received through the transceiver 123 controlled by the processor 121 of the second STA 120. In addition, control information related to the operation of the AP or a TX/RX signal of the AP may be stored in the memory 122 of the second STA 120.
For example, in the specification described below, an operation of a device indicated as a non-AP (or user-STA) may be performed in the first STA 110 or the second STA 120. For example, if the second STA 120 is the non-AP, the operation of the device indicated as the non-AP may be controlled by the processor 121 of the second STA 120, and a related signal may be transmitted or received through the transceiver 123 controlled by the processor 121 of the second STA 120. In addition, control information related to the operation of the non-AP or a TX/RX signal of the non-AP may be stored in the memory 122 of the second STA 120. For example, if the first STA 110 is the non-AP, the operation of the device indicated as the non-AP may be controlled by the processor 111 of the first STA 110, and a related signal may be transmitted or received through the transceiver 113 controlled by the processor 111 of the first STA 110. In addition, control information related to the operation of the non-AP or a TX/RX signal of the non-AP may be stored in the memory 112 of the first STA 110.
In the specification described below, a device called a (transmitting/receiving) STA, a first STA, a second STA, a STA1, a STA2, an AP, a first AP, a second AP, an AP1, an AP2, a (transmitting/receiving) terminal, a (transmitting/receiving) device, a (transmitting/receiving) apparatus, a network, or the like may imply the STAs 110 and 120 of
The aforementioned device/STA of the sub-figure (a) of
For example, the transceivers 113 and 123 illustrated in the sub-figure (b) of
A mobile terminal, a wireless device, a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a mobile subscriber unit, a user, a user STA, a network, a base station, a Node-B, an access point (AP), a repeater, a router, a relay, a receiving unit, a transmitting unit, a receiving STA, a transmitting STA, a receiving device, a transmitting device, a receiving apparatus, and/or a transmitting apparatus, which are described below, may imply the STAs 110 and 120 illustrated in the sub-figure (a)/(b) of
For example, a technical feature in which the receiving STA receives the control signal may be understood as a technical feature in which the control signal is received by means of the transceivers 113 and 123 illustrated in the sub-figure (a) of
Referring to the sub-figure (b) of
The processors 111 and 121 or processing chips 114 and 124 of
In the present specification, an uplink may imply a link for communication from a non-AP STA to an SP STA, and an uplink PPDU/packet/signal or the like may be transmitted through the uplink. In addition, in the present specification, a downlink may imply a link for communication from the AP STA to the non-AP STA, and a downlink PPDU/packet/signal or the like may be transmitted through the downlink.
An upper part of
Referring the upper part of
The BSS may include at least one STA, APs providing a distribution service, and a distribution system (DS) 210 connecting multiple APs.
The distribution system 210 may implement an extended service set (ESS) 240 extended by connecting the multiple BSSs 200 and 205. The ESS 240 may be used as a term indicating one network configured by connecting one or more APs 225 or 230 through the distribution system 210. The AP included in one ESS 240 may have the same service set identification (SSID).
A portal 220 may serve as a bridge which connects the wireless LAN network (IEEE 802.11) and another network (e.g., 802.X).
In the BSS illustrated in the upper part of
A lower part of
Referring to the lower part of
In S310, a STA may perform a network discovery operation. The network discovery operation may include a scanning operation of the STA. That is, to access a network, the STA needs to discover a participating network. The STA needs to identify a compatible network before participating in a wireless network, and a process of identifying a network present in a particular area is referred to as scanning. Scanning methods include active scanning and passive scanning.
Although not shown in
After discovering the network, the STA may perform an authentication process in S320. The authentication process may be referred to as a first authentication process to be clearly distinguished from the following security setup operation in S340. The authentication process in S320 may include a process in which the STA transmits an authentication request frame to the AP and the AP transmits an authentication response frame to the STA in response. The authentication frames used for an authentication request/response are management frames.
The authentication frames may include information related to an authentication algorithm number, an authentication transaction sequence number, a status code, a challenge text, a robust security network (RSN), and a finite cyclic group.
The STA may transmit the authentication request frame to the AP. The AP may determine whether to allow the authentication of the STA based on the information included in the received authentication request frame. The AP may provide the authentication processing result to the STA via the authentication response frame.
When the STA is successfully authenticated, the STA may perform an association process in S330. The association process includes a process in which the STA transmits an association request frame to the AP and the AP transmits an association response frame to the STA in response. The association request frame may include, for example, information related to various capabilities, a beacon listen interval, a service set identifier (SSID), a supported rate, a supported channel, RSN, a mobility domain, a supported operating class, a traffic indication map (TIM) broadcast request, and an interworking service capability. The association response frame may include, for example, information related to various capabilities, a status code, an association ID (AID), a supported rate, an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) parameter set, a received channel power indicator (RCPI), a received signal-to-noise indicator (RSNI), a mobility domain, a timeout interval (association comeback time), an overlapping BSS scanning parameter, a TIM broadcast response, and a QoS map.
In S340, the STA may perform a security setup process. The security setup process in S340 may include a process of setting up a private key through four-way handshaking, for example, through an extensible authentication protocol over LAN (EAPOL) frame.
As illustrated, various types of PHY protocol data units (PPDUs) are used in IEEE a/g/n/ac standards. Specifically, an LTF and a STF include a training signal, a SIG-A and a SIG-B include control information for a receiving STA, and a data field includes user data corresponding to a PSDU (MAC PDU/aggregated MAC PDU).
As illustrated in
Hereinafter, a resource unit (RU) used for a PPDU is described. An RU may include a plurality of subcarriers (or tones). An RU may be used to transmit a signal to a plurality of STAs according to OFDMA. Further, an RU may also be defined to transmit a signal to one STA. An RU may be used for an STF, an LTF, a data field, or the like.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in the uppermost part of
The layout of the RUs in
Although
Similarly to
As illustrated in
Similarly to
As illustrated in
The RU described in the present specification may be used in uplink (UL) communication and downlink (DL) communication. For example, when UL-MU communication which is solicited by a trigger frame is performed, a transmitting STA (e.g., an AP) may allocate a first RU (e.g., 26/52/106/242-RU, etc.) to a first STA through the trigger frame, and may allocate a second RU (e.g., 26/52/106/242-RU, etc.) to a second STA. Thereafter, the first STA may transmit a first trigger-based PPDU based on the first RU, and the second STA may transmit a second trigger-based PPDU based on the second RU. The first/second trigger-based PPDU is transmitted to the AP at the same (or overlapped) time period.
For example, when a DL MU PPDU is configured, the transmitting STA (e.g., AP) may allocate the first RU (e.g., 26/52/106/242-RU. etc.) to the first STA, and may allocate the second RU (e.g., 26/52/106/242-RU, etc.) to the second STA. That is, the transmitting STA (e.g., AP) may transmit HE-STF, HE-LTF, and Data fields for the first STA through the first RU in one MU PPDU, and may transmit HE-STF, HE-LTF, and Data fields for the second STA through the second RU.
Information related to a layout of the RU may be signaled through HE-SIG-B.
As illustrated, an HE-SIG-B field 810 includes a common field 820 and a user-specific field 830. The common field 820 may include information commonly applied to all users (i.e., user STAs) which receive SIG-B. The user-specific field 830 may be called a user-specific control field. When the SIG-B is transferred to a plurality of users, the user-specific field 830 may be applied only any one of the plurality of users.
As illustrated in
The common field 820 may include RU allocation information of N*8 bits. For example, the RU allocation information may include information related to a location of an RU. For example, when a 20 MHz channel is used as shown in
An example of a case in which the RU allocation information consists of 8 bits is as follows.
As shown the example of
The example of Table 1 shows only some of RU locations capable of displaying the RU allocation information.
For example, the RU allocation information may include an example of Table 2 below.
“01000y2y1y0” relates to an example in which a 106-RU is allocated to the leftmost side of the 20 MHz channel, and five 26-RUs are allocated to the right side thereof. In this case, a plurality of STAs (e.g., user-STAs) may be allocated to the 106-RU, based on a MU-MIMO scheme. Specifically, up to 8 STAs (e.g., user-STAs) may be allocated to the 106-RU, and the number of STAs (e.g., user-STAs) allocated to the 106-RU is determined based on 3-bit information (y2y1y0). For example, when the 3-bit information (y2y1y0) is set to N, the number of STAs (e.g., user-STAs) allocated to the 106-RU based on the MU-MIMO scheme may be N+1.
In general, a plurality of STAs (e.g., user STAs) different from each other may be allocated to a plurality of RUs. However, the plurality of STAs (e.g., user STAs) may be allocated to one or more RUs having at least a specific size (e.g., 106 subcarriers), based on the MU-MIMO scheme.
As shown in
For example, when RU allocation is set to “01000y2y1y0”, a plurality of STAs may be allocated to the 106-RU arranged at the leftmost side through the MU-MIMO scheme, and five user STAs may be allocated to five 26-RUs arranged to the right side thereof through the non-MU MIMO scheme. This case is specified through an example of
For example, when RU allocation is set to “01000010” as shown in
The eight user fields may be expressed in the order shown in
The user fields shown in
Each user field may have the same size (e.g., 21 bits). For example, the user field of the first format (the first of the MU-MIMO scheme) may be configured as follows.
For example, a first bit (i.e., B0-B10) in the user field (i.e., 21 bits) may include identification information (e.g., STA-ID, partial AID, etc.) of a user STA to which a corresponding user field is allocated. In addition, a second bit (i.e., B11-B14) in the user field (i.e., 21 bits) may include information related to a spatial configuration.
In addition, a third bit (i.e., B15-18) in the user field (i.e., 21 bits) may include modulation and coding scheme (MCS) information. The MCS information may be applied to a data field in a PPDU including corresponding SIG-B.
An MCS, MCS information, an MCS index, an MCS field, or the like used in the present specification may be indicated by an index value. For example, the MCS information may be indicated by an index 0 to an index 11. The MCS information may include information related to a constellation modulation type (e.g., BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, 1024-QAM, etc.) and information related to a coding rate (e.g., 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6e, etc.). Information related to a channel coding type (e.g., LCC or LDPC) may be excluded in the MCS information.
In addition, a fourth bit (i.e., B19) in the user field (i.e., 21 bits) may be a reserved field.
In addition, a fifth bit (i.e., B20) in the user field (i.e., 21 bits) may include information related to a coding type (e.g., BCC or LDPC). That is, the fifth bit (i.e., B20) may include information related to a type (e.g., BCC or LDPC) of channel coding applied to the data field in the PPDU including the corresponding SIG-B.
The aforementioned example relates to the user field of the first format (the format of the MU-MIMO scheme). An example of the user field of the second format (the format of the non-MU-MIMO scheme) is as follows.
A first bit (e.g., B0-B10) in the user field of the second format may include identification information of a user STA. In addition, a second bit (e.g., B11-B13) in the user field of the second format may include information related to the number of spatial streams applied to a corresponding RU. In addition, a third bit (e.g., B14) in the user field of the second format may include information related to whether a beamforming steering matrix is applied. A fourth bit (e.g., B15-B18) in the user field of the second format may include modulation and coding scheme (MCS) information. In addition, a fifth bit (e.g., B19) in the user field of the second format may include information related to whether dual carrier modulation (DCM) is applied. In addition, a sixth bit (i.e., B20) in the user field of the second format may include information related to a coding type (e.g., BCC or LDPC).
Hereinafter, a PPDU transmitted/received in a STA of the present specification will be described.
The PPDU of
The PPDU of
In
A subcarrier spacing of the L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, U-SIG, and EHT-SIG fields of
In the PPDU of
The L-SIG field of
For example, the transmitting STA may apply BCC encoding based on a 1/2 coding rate to the 24-bit information of the L-SIG field. Thereafter, the transmitting STA may obtain a BCC coding bit of 48 bits. BPSK modulation may be applied to the 48-bit coding bit, thereby generating 48 BPSK symbols. The transmitting STA may map the 48 BPSK symbols to positions except for a pilot subcarrier{subcarrier index −21, −7, +7, +21} and a DC subcarrier {subcarrier index 0}. As a result, the 48 BPSK symbols may be mapped to subcarrier indices −26 to −22, −20 to −8, −6 to −1, +1 to +6, +8 to +20, and +22 to +26. The transmitting STA may additionally map a signal of {−1, −1, −1, 1} to a subcarrier index {−28, −27, +27, +28}. The aforementioned signal may be used for channel estimation on a frequency domain corresponding to {−28, −27, +27, +28}.
The transmitting STA may generate an RL-SIG generated in the same manner as the L-SIG. BPSK modulation may be applied to the RL-SIG. The receiving STA may know that the RX PPDU is the HE PPDU or the EHT PPDU, based on the presence of the RL-SIG.
A universal SIG (U-SIG) may be inserted after the RL-SIG of
The U-SIG may include information of N bits, and may include information for identifying a type of the EHT PPDU. For example, the U-SIG may be configured based on two symbols (e.g., two contiguous OFDM symbols). Each symbol (e.g., OFDM symbol) for the U-SIG may have a duration of 4 μs. Each symbol of the U-SIG may be used to transmit the 26-bit information. For example, each symbol of the U-SIG may be transmitted/received based on 52 data tomes and 4 pilot tones.
Through the U-SIG (or U-SIG field), for example, A-bit information (e.g., 52 un-coded bits) may be transmitted. A first symbol of the U-SIG may transmit first X-bit information (e.g., 26 un-coded bits) of the A-bit information, and a second symbol of the U-SIB may transmit the remaining Y-bit information (e.g. 26 un-coded bits) of the A-bit information. For example, the transmitting STA may obtain 26 un-coded bits included in each U-SIG symbol. The transmitting STA may perform convolutional encoding (i.e., BCC encoding) based on a rate of R=1/2 to generate 52-coded bits, and may perform interleaving on the 52-coded bits. The transmitting STA may perform BPSK modulation on the interleaved 52-coded bits to generate 52 BPSK symbols to be allocated to each U-SIG symbol. One U-SIG symbol may be transmitted based on 65 tones (subcarriers) from a subcarrier index −28 to a subcarrier index +28, except for a DC index 0. The 52 BPSK symbols generated by the transmitting STA may be transmitted based on the remaining tones (subcarriers) except for pilot tones, i.e., tones −21, −7, +7, +21.
For example, the A-bit information (e.g., 52 un-coded bits) generated by the U-SIG may include a CRC field (e.g., a field having a length of 4 bits) and a tail field (e.g., a field having a length of 6 bits). The CRC field and the tail field may be transmitted through the second symbol of the U-SIG. The CRC field may be generated based on 26 bits allocated to the first symbol of the U-SIG and the remaining 16 bits except for the CRC/tail fields in the second symbol, and may be generated based on the conventional CRC calculation algorithm. In addition, the tail field may be used to terminate trellis of a convolutional decoder, and may be set to, for example, “000000”.
The A-bit information (e.g., 52 un-coded bits) transmitted by the U-SIG (or U-SIG field) may be divided into version-independent bits and version-dependent bits. For example, the version-independent bits may have a fixed or variable size. For example, the version-independent bits may be allocated only to the first symbol of the U-SIG, or the version-independent bits may be allocated to both of the first and second symbols of the U-SIG. For example, the version-independent bits and the version-dependent bits may be called in various terms such as a first control bit, a second control bit, or the like.
For example, the version-independent bits of the U-SIG may include a PHY version identifier of 3 bits. For example, the PHY version identifier of 3 bits may include information related to a PHY version of a TX/RX PPDU. For example, a first value of the PHY version identifier of 3 bits may indicate that the TX/RX PPDU is an EHT PPDU. In other words, when the transmitting STA transmits the EHT PPDU, the PHY version identifier of 3 bits may be set to a first value. In other words, the receiving STA may determine that the RX PPDU is the EHT PPDU, based on the PHY version identifier having the first value.
For example, the version-independent bits of the U-SIG may include a UL/DL flag field of 1 bit. A first value of the UL/DL flag field of 1 bit relates to UL communication, and a second value of the UL/DL flag field relates to DL communication.
For example, the version-independent bits of the U-SIG may include information related to a TXOP length and information related to a BSS color ID.
For example, when the EHT PPDU is divided into various types (e.g., various types such as an EHT PPDU related to an SU mode, an EHT PPDU related to a MU mode, an EHT PPDU related to a TB mode, an EHT PPDU related to extended range transmission, or the like), information related to the type of the EHT PPDU may be included in the version-dependent bits of the U-SIG.
For example, the U-SIG may include: 1) a bandwidth field including information related to a bandwidth: 2) a field including information related to an MCS scheme applied to EHT-SIG: 3) an indication field including information regarding whether a dual subcarrier modulation (DCM) scheme is applied to EHT-SIG; 4) a field including information related to the number of symbol used for EHT-SIG: 5) a field including information regarding whether the EHT-SIG is generated across a full band: 6) a field including information related to a type of EHT-LTF/STF; and 7) information related to a field indicating an EHT-LTF length and a CP length.
Preamble puncturing may be applied to the PPDU of
For example, a pattern of the preamble puncturing may be configured in advance. For example, when a first puncturing pattern is applied, puncturing may be applied only to the secondary 20 MHz band within the 80 MHz band. For example, when a second puncturing pattern is applied, puncturing may be applied to only any one of two secondary 20 MHz bands included in the secondary 40 MHz band within the 80 MHz band. For example, when a third puncturing pattern is applied, puncturing may be applied to only the secondary 20 MHz band included in the primary 80 MHz band within the 160 MHz band (or 80+80 MHz band). For example, when a fourth puncturing is applied, puncturing may be applied to at least one 20 MHz channel not belonging to a primary 40 MHz band in the presence of the primary 40 MHz band included in the 80 MHz band within the 160 MHz band (or 80+80 MHz band).
Information related to the preamble puncturing applied to the PPDU may be included in U-SIG and/or EHT-SIG. For example, a first field of the U-SIG may include information related to a contiguous bandwidth, and second field of the U-SIG may include information related to the preamble puncturing applied to the PPDU.
For example, the U-SIG and the EHT-SIG may include the information related to the preamble puncturing, based on the following method. When a bandwidth of the PPDU exceeds 80 MHz, the U-SIG may be configured individually in unit of 80 MHz. For example, when the bandwidth of the PPDU is 160 MHz, the PPDU may include a first U-SIG for a first 80 MHz band and a second U-SIG for a second 80 MHz band. In this case, a first field of the first U-SIG may include information related to a 160 MHz bandwidth, and a second field of the first U-SIG may include information related to a preamble puncturing (i.e., information related to a preamble puncturing pattern) applied to the first 80 MHz band. In addition, a first field of the second U-SIG may include information related to a 160 MHz bandwidth, and a second field of the second U-SIG may include information related to a preamble puncturing (i.e., information related to a preamble puncturing pattern) applied to the second 80 MHz band. Meanwhile, an EHT-SIG contiguous to the first U-SIG may include information related to a preamble puncturing applied to the second 80 MHz band (i.e., information related to a preamble puncturing pattern), and an EHT-SIG contiguous to the second U-SIG may include information related to a preamble puncturing (i.e., information related to a preamble puncturing pattern) applied to the first 80 MHz band.
Additionally or alternatively, the U-SIG and the EHT-SIG may include the information related to the preamble puncturing, based on the following method. The U-SIG may include information related to a preamble puncturing (i.e., information related to a preamble puncturing pattern) for all bands. That is, the EHT-SIG may not include the information related to the preamble puncturing, and only the U-SIG may include the information related to the preamble puncturing (i.e., the information related to the preamble puncturing pattern).
The U-SIG may be configured in unit of 20 MHz. For example, when an 80 MHz PPDU is configured, the U-SIG may be duplicated. That is, four identical U-SIGs may be included in the 80 MHz PPDU. PPDUs exceeding an 80 MHz bandwidth may include different U-SIGs.
The EHT-SIG of
The EHT-SIG may include a technical feature of the HE-SIG-B described with reference to
As in the example of
As in the example of
As in the example of
A mode in which the common field of the EHT-SIG is omitted may be supported. The mode in the common field of the EHT-SIG is omitted may be called a compressed mode. When the compressed mode is used, a plurality of users (i.e., a plurality of receiving STAs) may decode the PPDU (e.g., the data field of the PPDU), based on non-OFDMA. That is, the plurality of users of the EHT PPDU may decode the PPDU (e.g., the data field of the PPDU) received through the same frequency band. Meanwhile, when a non-compressed mode is used, the plurality of users of the EHT PPDU may decode the PPDU (e.g., the data field of the PPDU), based on OFDMA. That is, the plurality of users of the EHT PPDU may receive the PPDU (e.g., the data field of the PPDU) through different frequency bands.
The EHT-SIG may be configured based on various MCS schemes. As described above, information related to an MCS scheme applied to the EHT-SIG may be included in U-SIG. The EHT-SIG may be configured based on a DCM scheme. For example, among N data tones (e.g., 52 data tones) allocated for the EHT-SIG, a first modulation scheme may be applied to half of consecutive tones, and a second modulation scheme may be applied to the remaining half of the consecutive tones. That is, a transmitting STA may use the first modulation scheme to modulate specific control information through a first symbol and allocate it to half of the consecutive tones, and may use the second modulation scheme to modulate the same control information by using a second symbol and allocate it to the remaining half of the consecutive tones. As described above, information (e.g., a 1-bit field) regarding whether the DCM scheme is applied to the EHT-SIG may be included in the U-SIG. The EHT-STF of
Information related to a type of STF and/or LTF (information related to a GI applied to LTF is also included) may be included in a SIG-A field and/or SIG-B field or the like of
A PPDU (e.g., EHT-PPDU) of
For example, an EHT PPDU transmitted on a 20 MHz band, i.e., a 20 MHz EHT PPDU, may be configured based on the RU of
An EHT PPDU transmitted on a 40 MHz band, i.e., a 40 MHz EHT PPDU, may be configured based on the RU of
Since the RU location of
When the pattern of
A tone-plan for 160/240/320 MHz may be configured in such a manner that the pattern of
The PPDU of
A receiving STA may determine a type of an RX PPDU as the EHT PPDU, based on the following aspect. For example, the RX PPDU may be determined as the EHT PPDU: 1) when a first symbol after an L-LTF signal of the RX PPDU is a BPSK symbol: 2) when RL-SIG in which the L-SIG of the RX PPDU is repeated is detected; and 3) when a result of applying “modulo 3” to a value of a length field of the L-SIG of the RX PPDU is detected as “0”. When the RX PPDU is determined as the EHT PPDU, the receiving STA may detect a type of the EHT PPDU (e.g., an SU/MU/Trigger-based/Extended Range type), based on bit information included in a symbol after the RL-SIG of
For example, the receiving STA may determine the type of the RX PPDU as the EHT PPDU, based on the following aspect. For example, the RX PPDU may be determined as the HE PPDU: 1) when a first symbol after an L-LTF signal is a BPSK symbol; 2) when RL-SIG in which the L-SIG is repeated is detected; and 3) when a result of applying “modulo 3” to a value of a length field of the L-SIG is detected as “1” or “2”.
For example, the receiving STA may determine the type of the RX PPDU as a non-HT, HT, and VHT PPDU, based on the following aspect. For example, the RX PPDU may be determined as the non-HT, HT, and VHT PPDU: 1) when a first symbol after an L-LTF signal is a BPSK symbol; and 2) when RL-SIG in which L-SIG is repeated is not detected. In addition, even if the receiving STA detects that the RL-SIG is repeated, when a result of applying “modulo 3” to the length value of the L-SIG is detected as “0”, the RX PPDU may be determined as the non-HT, HT, and VHT PPDU.
In the following example, a signal represented as a (TX/RX/UL/DL) signal, a (TX/RX/UL/DL) frame, a (TX/RX/UL/DL) packet, a (TX/RX/UL/DL) data unit, (TX/RX/UL/DL) data, or the like may be a signal transmitted/received based on the PPDU of
Each device/STA of the sub-figure (a)/(b) of
A processor 610 of
A memory 620 of
Referring to
Referring to
Transmit beamforming and DL MU-MIMO (DownLink Multi User-Multi Input Multi Output) require knowledge of channel conditions to calculate a steering matrix applied to the transmit signal to optimize reception at one or more receivers. The EHT STA determines channel state information using the EHT sounding protocol. The EHT sounding protocol provides explicit feedback mechanisms defined as EHT non-trigger-based (non-TB) sounding and EHT trigger-based (TB) sounding. Here, the EHT beamformee measures the channel using the training signal transmitted by the EHT beamformer (i.e., the EHT sounding NDP) and sends back a transformed estimate of the channel state. The EHT beamformer uses this estimate to derive a steering matrix.
The EHT beamformer returns an estimate of a channel state in an EHT compressed beamforming/CQI report included in one or more EHT Compressed Beamforming/CQI frames. There are three types of EHT compression beamforming/CQI report.
For reference, the use of EHT TB sounding does not necessarily mean MU feedback. EHT TB sounding is also used to obtain SU feedback and CQI feedback.
The EHT non-TB sounding sequence is initiated by the EHT beamformer using an individually addressed EHT NDP Announcement frame containing exactly one STA information field, and EHT sounding NDP is performed after SIFS. The EHT beamformer responds with an EHT Compressed Beamforming/CQI frame after SIFS.
The AID11 subfield of the STA information field must be set to the AID of the STA identified by the RA field of the EHT NDP Announcement frame, or set to 0 if the STA identified by the RA field is a mesh STA, AP, or IBSS STA.
An example of an EHT non-TB sounding sequence with a single EHT beamform is shown in
The EHT TB sounding sequence is initiated by the EHT beamformer using a broadcast EHT NDP Announcement frame with two or more STA information fields, an EHT sounding NDP is transmitted after the SIFS, and a BFRP (Beamforming Report) trigger frame following the SIFS is transmitted. The BFRP trigger frame transmitted within the EHT TB sounding sequence must request the EHT TB PPDU.
An example of an EHT TB sounding sequence with two or more EHT beamforms is shown in
An EHT beamformer initiating an EHT TB sounding sequence must transmit an EHT NDP Announcement frame including two or more STA information fields and an RA field set to a broadcast address.
The EHT beamformer may initiate an EHT TB sounding sequence to request SU, MU or CQI feedback.
The VHT/HE/EHT NDP Announcement frame has three variants of a VHT NDP Announcement frame, a HE NDP Announcement frame, and an EHT NDP Announcement frame. Each variant is distinguished by the HE subfield setting and the Ranging subfield in the Sounding Dialog Token field.
The VHT/HE/EHT NDP Announcement frame includes at least one STA Info field. If the VHT/HE/EHT NDP Announcement frame includes only one STA Info field, the RA field is set to the address of an STA capable of providing feedback. If the VHT/HE/EHT NDP Announcement frame includes one or more STA Info fields, the RA field is set to a broadcast address.
The TA field is set to the address of the STA transmitting the VHT/HE/EHT NDP Announcement frame or the bandwidth signaling TA of the STA transmitting the VHT/HE/EHT NDP Announcement frame.
The Resolution subfield of the Partial BW Info subfield indicates the resolution bandwidth for each bit of the Feedback Bitmap subfield. The Feedback Bitmap subfield represents the request for each resolution bandwidth from the lowest frequency to the highest frequency, and B1 represents the lowest resolution bandwidth. Each bit in the Feedback Bitmap subfield is set to 1 when feedback is requested in the corresponding resolution bandwidth.
If the bandwidth of the EHT NDP Announcement frame is less than 320 MHz, set the Resolution bit B0 to 0 to indicate a resolution of 20 MHz.
When the bandwidth of the EHT NDP Announcement frame is 320 MHz, the resolution bit B0 is set to 1 to indicate a resolution of 40 MHz. B1 to B8 represent feedback requests for each of the eight 484-tone RUs from low to high frequencies. When both B1 and B2 are set to 1, it indicates a feedback request for the lowest 996-tone RU, when both B3 and B4 are set to 1, it indicates a feedback request for the second lowest 996-tone RU, when both B5 and B6 are set to 1, it indicates a feedback request for the second highest 996-tone RU, and when both B7 and B8 are set to 1, it indicates a feedback request for the highest 996-tone RU.
Partial BW Info subfields are defined in the table below.
Subfields of the EHT MIMO Control field may be defined as follows.
When the Feedback Type subfield of
When the Feedback Type subfield of
The BW subfield of
If the Feedback Type subfield indicates SU or MU, the Grouping subfield indicates subcarrier grouping Ng used for the compressed beamforming feedback matrix, and is set to 0 if Ng=4 and set to 1 if Ng=16. If the Feedback Type subfield indicates CQI, the Grouping subfield is reserved.
The Partial BW Info subfield is defined in the format at the bottom of
The EHT Compressed Beamforming Report field conveys the average SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) of each spatial stream and the compressed beamforming feedback matrix V to be used by the transmit beamformer to determine the steering matrix Q as follows.
The size of the EHT Compressed Beamforming Report field varies according to the value of the EHT MIMO Control field. The EHT Compressed Beamforming Report field includes a continuous (length may be 0) part in case of EHT compressed beamforming report information or segmented EHT compressed beamforming/CQI report. If the Feedback Type subfield of the EHT MIMO Control field indicates SU or MU, the EHT compressed beamforming report information is included in the EHT Compressed Beamforming/CQI report.
The EHT Compressed Beamforming Report information includes first matrix angle and channel matrix elements indexed by data and pilot subcarrier indices from the lowest frequency to the second highest frequency.
Here, Nc is the number of columns of the compressed beamforming feedback matrix determined by the Nc Index subfield of the EHT MIMO Control field, and Nr is the number of rows of the compressed beamforming feedback matrix determined by the Nr Index subfield of the EHT MIMO control field.
Ns is the number of subcarriers through which the compressed beamforming feedback matrix is transmitted back to the beamformer. Depending on which of the beamformer or beamformer determines the feedback parameter, the beamformer or beamformer uses a method called grouping in which only a single compressed beamforming feedback matrix is reported for each group of Ng contiguous subcarriers, reduce Ns. Ns is a function of the BW, Partial BW Info, and Grouping subfields of the EHT MIMO Control field.
The subcarrier index scidx(i), i=0, 1 . . . , Ns−1, is a concatenation of subcarrier indices for each 242 tone RU or 996 tone RU in frequency order, it is identified as the Partial BW Info subfield along with the BW and Grouping subfields. The subcarrier index for each 242-tone RU or 996-tone RU is defined as shown in the table below.
When the feedback request does not cover the entire 80 MHz subblock, the subcarrier index is as follows.
When the feedback request covers the entire 80 MHz subblock and Ng=4, the subcarrier index is as follows.
When the feedback request covers the entire 80 MHz subblock and Ng=16, the subcarrier index is as follows.
The WLAN 802.11 system considers transmission of an increased stream using a band wider than that of the existing 11ax or more antennas to increase the peak throughput. In addition, the present specification also considers a method of aggregating and using various bands/links.
In the existing 802.11ax, in order to transmit SU/MU MIMO PPDU, a Q matrix can be configured using channel information, and for this, a procedure for receiving sounding and channel information feedback is required. At this time, NDP can be used for PPDU for sounding. The procedure for this has been described in detail above. In particular, the feedback tone may vary according to Ng, and in 802.11ax, the feedback tone according to each bandwidth is defined, which is also described above.
In 802.11be, a tone plan different from 802.11ax is used, and since wide bandwidth can be used and up to 16 streams can be transmitted, a new Ng to reduce feedback overhead may be considered.
Tone plans and RU locations for 20 MHz and 40 MHz PPDUs in the 802.11be wireless LAN system are the same as those in the 802.11ax wireless LAN system.
In an 80 MHz EHT PPDU, indices of data and pilot subcarriers of RUs are fixed as follows. In the table below, a subcarrier having a subcarrier index of 0 corresponds to a DC tone. A subcarrier having a negative subcarrier index corresponds to a subcarrier having a frequency lower than that of the DC tone. A subcarrier having a positive subcarrier index corresponds to a subcarrier having a higher frequency than the DC tone.
Meanwhile, in order to receive feedback on the channel state, the AP may indicate the STA with information on the corresponding NDP by transmitting an NDPA before transmitting the NDP. In this case, the present specification proposes a method of configuring a partial BW info field, which is a field for requesting feedback from only partial channels.
The partial BW info field of NDPA is a field for requesting feedback for partial channels rather than the entire BW. In 802.11ax, partial BW feedback was requested in units of 26 RU (Resource Units), but in 802.11be, in order to increase efficiency, it was decided to request partial BW feedback in units of 242 RUs as shown in Tables 4 and 5 above. In addition, 802.11be also proposes a method of requesting partial BW feedback in units of 996 RUs as shown in Tables 6 and 7 above when the partial BW feedback request covers the entire 80 MHz subblock.
The NDPA frame located at the top of
If the AID11 subfield of the HE NDPA frame is not set to 2047, the format of the STA Info field is configured as shown in the upper part of
The Partial BW Info subfield included in the STA Info field of the HE NDPA frame is configured as shown in the lower part of
The upper part of
The lower part of
The Partial BW Info field includes a 1-bit resolution bit and an 8-bit feedback bitmap. The resolution bit may indicate a resolution bandwidth (20 MHz or 40 MHz) for each bit of the feedback bitmap. If the bandwidth of the NDP frame is less than 320 MHz, the feedback unit is 20 MHz (242 RU) and the Resolution bit is set to 0. When the bandwidth of the NDP frame is 320 MHz, the feedback unit is 40 MHz (484 RU) and the Resolution bit is set to 1.
The 8-bit feedback bitmap may indicate a feedback request for each resolution bandwidth from the lowest frequency to the highest frequency. When B0=0, the 8-bit feedback bitmap indicates a feedback request for each 20 MHz subchannel within 160 MHz. When B0=1, the 8-bit feedback bitmap indicates a feedback request for each 40 MHz subchannel within 320 MHz. Each bit of the feedback bitmap is set to 1 when feedback is requested in the corresponding resolution bandwidth.
For example, when the bandwidth of the EHT NDPA frame is less than 320 MHz, the Resolution bit B0 is set to 0 to indicate a resolution of 20 MHz.
When the bandwidth of the EHT NDPA frame is 320 MHz, the Resolution bit B0 is set to 1 to indicate a resolution of 40 MHz. B1-B8 indicate feedback requests for each of the eight 484 RUs from low to high frequencies. At this time, when both B1 and B2 are set to 1, B1 and B2 indicate a feedback request for the lowest 996 RU. When both B3 and B4 are set to 1, B3 and B4 indicate a feedback request for the second lowest 996 RU. When both B5 and B6 are set to 1, B5 and B6 indicate a feedback request for the second highest 996 RU. When both B7 and B8 are set to 1, B7 and B8 indicate a feedback request for the highest 996 RU.
Specific values of the Partial BW Info subfield are defined in Table 3 above.
In a wireless LAN system (802.11), the AP can send NDPA before transmitting the NDP to receive channel status feedback to instruct the STA about information about the corresponding NDP. In this embodiment, the AP can request feedback for only some channels and can request feedback based on the Partial BW Info subfield of the STA Info field. In particular, this specification proposes the Partial BW Info subfield and STA Info field to indicate partial BW feedback with 20 MHz resolution when the beamformee is (20/)80/160/320 MHz operating STA in 320 MHz NDPA.
The partial BW info subfield of the NDPA is a subfield for requesting feedback on some channels rather than the entire BW. In 802.11ax, partial BW feedback was requested in units of 26 RU, but in 802.11be, requesting partial BW feedback in units of 242/996 RU was introduced to increase efficiency. Tables 4 to 7 above show the feedback tone index in each situation.
The problem with the current definition is that partial BW feedback with 20 MHz resolution cannot be indicated in 320 MHz NDPA. To solve this, this specification proposes the following method.
The above proposal can only be used when a partial BW feedback channel corresponding to a 242RU unit at 320 MHz exists, which may be desirable from an overhead perspective. Or even in cases where this is not the case (i.e., even when there is only a partial BW feedback channel corresponding to a 484RU or 996RU unit rather than a 242 RU unit), the above proposal can be used for unification.
When the beamformee performs partial BW feedback, the EHT MIMO Control field in
The Partial BW Info subfield of the EHT MIMO Control field is set the same as the Partial BW Info subfield of NDPA. However, the Partial BW Info subfield of the EHT MIMO Control field, which can include both the Partial BW Info subfields in the above two consecutive STA Info fields proposed considering 20 MHz resolution in 320 MHz NDPA, is not currently defined. Therefore, when two consecutive STA Info fields are included to indicate partial BW feedback in 20 MHz resolution units in 320 MHz NDPA, it is proposed to configure the Partial BW Info subfield of the EHT MIMO Control field as follows.
Because the beamformer configures NDPA and instructs the beamformee to provide partial BW feedback information, the proposed embodiment can operate without major problems.
The example of
Some of each step (or detailed sub-step to be described later) of the example of
Through step S2010, the transmitting device (transmitting STA) may obtain information about the above-described tone plan. As described above, the information about the tone plan includes the size and location of the RU, control information related to the RU, information about a frequency band including the RU, information about an STA receiving the RU, and the like.
Through step S2020, the transmitting device may construct/generate a PPDU based on the acquired control information. Configuring/generating the PPDU may include configuring/generating each field of the PPDU. That is, step S2020 includes configuring the EHT-SIG field including control information about the tone plan. That is, step S2020 includes configuring a field including control information (e.g., N bitmap) indicating the size/position of the RU; and/or configuring a field including an identifier of an STA receiving the RU (e.g., AID).
Also, step S2020 may include generating an STF/LTF sequence transmitted through a specific RU. The STF/LTF sequence may be generated based on a preset STF generation sequence/LTF generation sequence.
Also, step S2020 may include generating a data field (i.e., MPDU) transmitted through a specific RU.
The transmitting device may transmit the PPDU constructed through step S2020 to the receiving device based on step S2030.
While performing step S2030, the transmitting device may perform at least one of operations such as CSD, Spatial Mapping, IDFT/IFFT operation, and GI insertion.
A signal/field/sequence constructed according to the present specification may be transmitted in the form of
The aforementioned PPDU may be received according to the example of
The example of
Some of each step (or detailed sub-step to be described later) of the example of
The receiving device (receiving STA) may receive all or part of the PPDU through step S2110. The received signal may be in the form of
A sub-step of step S2210 may be determined based on step S2030 of
In step S2120, the receiving device may perform decoding on all/part of the PPDU. Also, the receiving device may obtain control information related to a tone plan (i.e., RU) from the decoded PPDU.
More specifically, the receiving device may decode the L-SIG and EHT-SIG of the PPDU based on the legacy STF/LTF and obtain information included in the L-SIG and EHT SIG fields. Information on various tone plans (i.e., RUs) described in this specification may be included in the EHT-SIG, and the receiving STA may obtain information on the tone plan (i.e., RU) through the EHT-SIG.
In step S2130, the receiving device may decode the remaining part of the PPDU based on information about the tone plan (i.e., RU) acquired through step S2120. For example, the receiving STA may decode the STF/LTF field of the PPDU based on information about one plan (i.e., RU). In addition, the receiving STA may decode the data field of the PPDU based on information about the tone plan (i.e., RU) and obtain the MPDU included in the data field.
In addition, the receiving device may perform a processing operation of transferring the data decoded through step S2130 to a higher layer (e.g., MAC layer). In addition, when generation of a signal is instructed from the upper layer to the PHY layer in response to data transmitted to the upper layer, a subsequent operation may be performed.
Hereinafter, the above-described embodiment will be described with reference to
The example of
The example of
This embodiment proposes a method for configuring a STA Info field of a NDPA frame to request channel status feedback for partial bands in units of 20 MHz (or 242RU) in the 320 MHz band.
In step S2210, a transmitting station (STA) transmits a Null Data Packet Announcement (NDPA) frame to a receiving STA through a 320 MHz band.
In step S2220, the transmitting STA transmits an NDP frame to the receiving STA.
In step S2230, the transmitting STA receives a feedback frame based on the NDPA frame and the NDP frame from the receiving STA.
When the receiving STA is one STA, a non-Trigger Based (non-TB) sounding method is used as in steps S2210 to S2230. However, when the receiving STA is multiple STAs (i.e., in the case of MU feedback), a TB sounding method that triggers the feedback frame using a Beamforming Report Poll (BFRP) trigger frame between steps S2220 and S2230 can be used. Specifically, the transmitting STA may transmit the BFRP trigger frame after transmitting the NDP frame and receive a feedback frame triggered by the BFRP trigger frame. The BFRP trigger frame includes at least one user information field, and only the receiving STA identified by the user information field can transmit the feedback frame.
The NDPA frame includes first and second STA information fields. The first STA information field includes a first Association Identifier (AID) subfield and information on a first partial band. The second STA information field includes a second AID subfield and information on a second partial band.
The first and second AID subfields are set to equally set to an AID value of the receiving STA. Multiple STA information fields included in the existing NDPA frame were fields including information on each STA, but this embodiment proposes a method of defining an NDPA frame including two STA information fields set to the same AID value for one STA.
The information on the first partial band includes a first bitmap composed of first to ninth bits. The information on the second partial band includes a second bitmap composed of 10th to 18th bits.
The first and 10th bits include information on channel units for requesting feedback information. For example, when the first and 10th bits are set to 0, the channel unit for requesting the feedback information may be 20 MHz (or 242 Resource Unit (RU)), and when the first and 10th bits are set to 1, the channel unit for requesting the feedback information may be 40 MHz (or 484RU). Since this embodiment proposes a method for requesting feedback information in units of 20 MHz (or 242RU), it is assumed that the first and tenth bits are set to 0. At this time, the 242RU is a resource unit composed of 242 tones.
When the first bit is set to 0, the second to ninth bits are bits that request feedback information for a 20 MHz channel with the lowest frequency to a 20 MHz channel with the highest frequency in a primary 160 MHz channel in the 320 MHz band.
When the 10th bit is set to 0, the 11th to 18th bits are bits that request feedback information for a 20 MHz channel with the lowest frequency to a 20 MHz channel with the highest frequency in a secondary 160 MHz channel in the 320 MHz band.
That is, this embodiment proposes a method for requesting, by the beamformer to the beamformee, feedback information on the primary 160 MHz channel (or a 160 MHz channel with a lower frequency in the 320 MHz band) in the first STA information field included in the NDPA frame and feedback information on the secondary 160 MHz channel (or a 160 MHz channel with a higher frequency in the 320 MHz band) in the second STA information field included in the NDPA frame. Therefore, by efficiently supporting Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) beamforming within the 320 MHz PPDU, it has the effect of improving the throughput of the entire system.
When the first bit is set to 0, the configuration of the second to ninth bits is as follows.
The second bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel. The third bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the second lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel. The fourth bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the third lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel. The fifth bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the fourth lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel. The sixth bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the fifth lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel. The seventh bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the sixth lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel. The eighth bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the seventh lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel. The ninth bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the highest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel.
When the 10th bit is set to 0, the configuration of the 11th to 18th bits is as follows.
The 11th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the lowest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel. The 12th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the second lowest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel. The 13th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the third lowest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel. The 14th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the fourth lowest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel. The 15th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the fifth lowest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel. The 16th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the sixth lowest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel. The 17th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the seventh lowest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel. The 18th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the highest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel.
For example, if the first bitmap is set to 011000000 and the second bitmap is set to 000000011, the transmitting STA may request feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the lowest frequency and the 20 MHz channel with the second lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel and the 20 MHz channel with the highest frequency and the 20 MHz channel with the second highest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel among the 320 MHz band, based on the NDPA frame.
In the second STA information field, remaining subfields except the second AID subfield and the information on the second partial band may be all reserved. For example, a Feedback Type And Ng subfield, a Disambiguation subfield, a Codebook Size subfield, and a Nc subfield of the second STA information field may be reserved because they are identically indicated in the first STA information field.
The feedback frame may include channel state information for partial bands requested based on the first and second bitmaps.
The NDP frame and the feedback frame may be transmitted in the same band as the NDPA frame (the 320 MHz band). Partial bands for which feedback is requested through the bitmap may be punctured within the 320 MHz band or may be composed of various RUs or Multi Resource Units (MRUs). The NDP frame may be defined as a variant of an Extremely High Throughput (EHT) Multi User (MU) PPDU. The NDP frame may include a Legacy-Short Training Field (L-STF), a Legacy-Long Training Field (L-LTF), a Legacy-Signal (L-SIG), Repeated L-SIG (RL-SIG), a Universal-Signal (U-SIG), an EHT-SIG, an EHT-STF, EHT-LTFs and a packet extension (PE) without data.
The example of
The example of
This embodiment proposes a method for configuring a STA Info field of a NDPA frame to request channel status feedback for partial bands in units of 20 MHz (or 242RU) in the 320 MHz band.
In step S2310, a receiving STA (station) receives a Null Data Packet Announcement (NDPA) frame from a transmitting STA through a 320 MHz band.
In step S2320, the receiving STA receives an NDP frame from the transmitting STA.
In step S2330, the receiving STA transmits a feedback frame to the transmitting STA based on the NDPA frame and the NDP frame.
When the receiving STA is one STA, a non-Trigger Based (non-TB) sounding method is used as in steps S2310 to S2330. However, when the receiving STA is multiple STAs (i.e., in the case of MU feedback), a TB sounding method that triggers the feedback frame using a Beamforming Report Poll (BFRP) trigger frame between steps S2220 and S2230 can be used. Specifically, the transmitting STA may transmit the BFRP trigger frame after transmitting the NDP frame and receive a feedback frame triggered by the BFRP trigger frame. The BFRP trigger frame includes at least one user information field, and only the receiving STA identified by the user information field can transmit the feedback frame.
The NDPA frame includes first and second STA information fields. The first STA information field includes a first Association Identifier (AID) subfield and information on a first partial band. The second STA information field includes a second AID subfield and information on a second partial band.
The first and second AID subfields are set to equally set to an AID value of the receiving STA. Multiple STA information fields included in the existing NDPA frame were fields including information on each STA, but this embodiment proposes a method of defining an NDPA frame including two STA information fields set to the same AID value for one STA.
The information on the first partial band includes a first bitmap composed of first to ninth bits. The information on the second partial band includes a second bitmap composed of 10th to 18th bits.
The first and 10th bits include information on channel units for requesting feedback information. For example, when the first and 10th bits are set to 0, the channel unit for requesting the feedback information may be 20 MHz (or 242 Resource Unit (RU)), and when the first and 10th bits are set to 1, the channel unit for requesting the feedback information may be 40 MHz (or 484RU). Since this embodiment proposes a method for requesting feedback information in units of 20 MHz (or 242RU), it is assumed that the first and tenth bits are set to 0. At this time, the 242RU is a resource unit composed of 242 tones.
When the first bit is set to 0, the second to ninth bits are bits that request feedback information for a 20 MHz channel with the lowest frequency to a 20 MHz channel with the highest frequency in a primary 160 MHz channel in the 320 MHz band.
When the 10th bit is set to 0, the 11th to 18th bits are bits that request feedback information for a 20 MHz channel with the lowest frequency to a 20 MHz channel with the highest frequency in a secondary 160 MHz channel in the 320 MHz band.
That is, this embodiment proposes a method for requesting, by the beamformer to the beamformee, feedback information on the primary 160 MHz channel (or a 160 MHz channel with a lower frequency in the 320 MHz band) in the first STA information field included in the NDPA frame and feedback information on the secondary 160 MHz channel (or a 160 MHz channel with a higher frequency in the 320 MHz band) in the second STA information field included in the NDPA frame. Therefore, by efficiently supporting Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) beamforming within the 320 MHz PPDU, it has the effect of improving the throughput of the entire system.
When the first bit is set to 0, the configuration of the second to ninth bits is as follows.
The second bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel. The third bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the second lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel. The fourth bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the third lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel. The fifth bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the fourth lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel. The sixth bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the fifth lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel. The seventh bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the sixth lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel. The eighth bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the seventh lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel. The ninth bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the highest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel.
When the 10th bit is set to 0, the configuration of the 11th to 18th bits is as follows.
The 11th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the lowest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel. The 12th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the second lowest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel. The 13th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the third lowest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel. The 14th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the fourth lowest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel. The 15th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the fifth lowest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel. The 16th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the sixth lowest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel. The 17th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the seventh lowest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel. The 18th bit may be a bit that requests feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the highest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel.
For example, if the first bitmap is set to 011000000 and the second bitmap is set to 000000011, the transmitting STA may request feedback information for the 20 MHz channel with the lowest frequency and the 20 MHz channel with the second lowest frequency in the primary 160 MHz channel and the 20 MHz channel with the highest frequency and the 20 MHz channel with the second highest frequency in the secondary 160 MHz channel among the 320 MHz band, based on the NDPA frame.
In the second STA information field, remaining subfields except the second AID subfield and the information on the second partial band may be all reserved. For example, a Feedback Type And Ng subfield, a Disambiguation subfield, a Codebook Size subfield, and a Nc subfield of the second STA information field may be reserved because they are identically indicated in the first STA information field.
The feedback frame may include channel state information for partial bands requested based on the first and second bitmaps.
The NDP frame and the feedback frame may be transmitted in the same band as the NDPA frame (the 320 MHz band). Partial bands for which feedback is requested through the bitmap may be punctured within the 320 MHz band or may be composed of various RUs or Multi Resource Units (MRUs). The NDP frame may be defined as a variant of an Extremely High Throughput (EHT) Multi User (MU) PPDU. The NDP frame may include a Legacy-Short Training Field (L-STF), a Legacy-Long Training Field (L-LTF), a Legacy-Signal (L-SIG), Repeated L-SIG (RL-SIG), a Universal-Signal (U-SIG), an EHT-SIG, an EHT-STF, EHT-LTFs and a packet extension (PE) without data.
The technical features of the present disclosure may be applied to various devices and methods. For example, the technical features of the present disclosure may be performed/supported through the device(s) of
The technical features of the present disclosure may be implemented based on a computer readable medium (CRM). For example, a CRM according to the present disclosure is at least one computer readable medium including instructions designed to be executed by at least one processor.
The CRM may store instructions that perform operations including receiving a Null Data Packet Announcement (NDPA) frame from a transmitting station (STA) through a 320 MHz band: receiving an NDP frame from the transmitting STA; and transmitting a feedback frame to the transmitting STA based on the NDPA frame and the NDP frame. At least one processor may execute the instructions stored in the CRM according to the present disclosure. At least one processor related to the CRM of the present disclosure may be the processor 111, 121 of
The foregoing technical features of the present specification are applicable to various applications or business models. For example, the foregoing technical features may be applied for wireless communication of a device supporting artificial intelligence (AI).
Artificial intelligence refers to a field of study on artificial intelligence or methodologies for creating artificial intelligence, and machine learning refers to a field of study on methodologies for defining and solving various issues in the area of artificial intelligence. Machine learning is also defined as an algorithm for improving the performance of an operation through steady experiences of the operation.
An artificial neural network (ANN) is a model used in machine learning and may refer to an overall problem-solving model that includes artificial neurons (nodes) forming a network by combining synapses. The artificial neural network may be defined by a pattern of connection between neurons of different layers, a learning process of updating a model parameter, and an activation function generating an output value.
The artificial neural network may include an input layer, an output layer, and optionally one or more hidden layers. Each layer includes one or more neurons, and the artificial neural network may include synapses that connect neurons. In the artificial neural network, each neuron may output a function value of an activation function of input signals input through a synapse, weights, and deviations.
A model parameter refers to a parameter determined through learning and includes a weight of synapse connection and a deviation of a neuron. A hyper-parameter refers to a parameter to be set before learning in a machine learning algorithm and includes a learning rate, the number of iterations, a mini-batch size, and an initialization function.
Learning an artificial neural network may be intended to determine a model parameter for minimizing a loss function. The loss function may be used as an index for determining an optimal model parameter in a process of learning the artificial neural network.
Machine learning may be classified into supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning.
Supervised learning refers to a method of training an artificial neural network with a label given for training data, wherein the label may indicate a correct answer (or result value) that the artificial neural network needs to infer when the training data is input to the artificial neural network. Unsupervised learning may refer to a method of training an artificial neural network without a label given for training data. Reinforcement learning may refer to a training method for training an agent defined in an environment to choose an action or a sequence of actions to maximize a cumulative reward in each state.
Machine learning implemented with a deep neural network (DNN) including a plurality of hidden layers among artificial neural networks is referred to as deep learning, and deep learning is part of machine learning. Hereinafter, machine learning is construed as including deep learning.
The foregoing technical features may be applied to wireless communication of a robot.
Robots may refer to machinery that automatically process or operate a given task with own ability thereof. In particular, a robot having a function of recognizing an environment and autonomously making a judgment to perform an operation may be referred to as an intelligent robot.
Robots may be classified into industrial, medical, household, military robots and the like according uses or fields. A robot may include an actuator or a driver including a motor to perform various physical operations, such as moving a robot joint. In addition, a movable robot may include a wheel, a brake, a propeller, and the like in a driver to run on the ground or fly in the air through the driver.
The foregoing technical features may be applied to a device supporting extended reality.
Extended reality collectively refers to virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). VR technology is a computer graphic technology of providing a real-world object and background only in a CG image, AR technology is a computer graphic technology of providing a virtual CG image on a real object image, and MR technology is a computer graphic technology of providing virtual objects mixed and combined with the real world.
MR technology is similar to AR technology in that a real object and a virtual object are displayed together. However, a virtual object is used as a supplement to a real object in AR technology, whereas a virtual object and a real object are used as equal statuses in MR technology.
XR technology may be applied to a head-mount display (HMD), a head-up display (HUD), a mobile phone, a tablet PC, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a TV, digital signage, and the like. A device to which XR technology is applied may be referred to as an XR device.
The claims recited in the present specification may be combined in a variety of ways. For example, the technical features of the method claims of the present specification may be combined to be implemented as a device, and the technical features of the device claims of the present specification may be combined to be implemented by a method. In addition, the technical characteristics of the method claim of the present specification and the technical characteristics of the device claim may be combined to be implemented as a device, and the technical characteristics of the method claim of the present specification and the technical characteristics of the device claim may be combined to be implemented by a method.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2021-0100115 | Jul 2021 | KR | national |
This application is the National Stage filing under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International Application No. PCT/KR2022/010755, filed on Jul. 22, 2022, which claims the benefit of earlier filing date and right of priority to Korean Application No. 10-2021-0100115, filed on Jul. 29, 2021, the contents of which are all incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2022/010755 | 7/22/2022 | WO |
